Memories of True Friendship
by yellows321
Summary: Naruto's persistence won out and Sasuke returned to Konoha. This story explores the dynamics of their friendship as they continue to live their lives in the hidden leaf village. I often admired the characteristic mixture of humour and sincerity that graced their interactions, and I took joy out of recreating that, and exploring the power of their bond. Please note: NO SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1

*CRASH* Sasuke looked up hastily from the book he was reading to stare in bewilderment at the door. What was it now? The characteristic screech of Naruto Uzumaki filled the entire hospital building complex, followed by the annoyed exclamation of Tsunade. "Shut up Naruto! Are you trying to wake all the patients in this building!?"

"But Obaachan! That hurt!" came the answering moan

"tch. You deserved it"

Sasuke shook his head disdainfully at the blond's antics. At least that was one thing in the Uchiha's life that would never change. Naruto would forever and always be an absolute dobe. Not two seconds after he thought this a loud bang reverberated throughout the hospital room as Naruto slammed open the door, stomping inside in a huff.

"Can you believe no one bothered to tell me you were admitted in here? Or that you came back from your mission 3 DAYS AGO?! And then when I came to visit my fellow comrade, as any decent shinobi would do, I got THIS from Tsunade!" Naruto gestured dramatically at the rapidly swelling bruise on his forehead.

"You were being too noisy, brat" said Tsunade as she leaned against the doorframe. Naruto directed a murderous glare at her before sulkily looking the other way.

"old hag.." he muttered

"WHAT was that?" Tsunade clenched her fists

"No-Nothing!" yelped Naruto hastily.

"Better not have been" grumbled Tsunade as she left the room.

Naruto turned to Sasuke with a pouting expression. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"No. I'm just dumbfounded once again by your ability to disrupt every individual in a 30 mile radius when you decide to make an entrance"

"I wasn't trying to make an entrance!" Naruto growled

"Then I must have imagined the last 5 minutes of ear-piercing shrieking you subjected the entire hospital building to. Way to 'not' make an entrance dobe. Scratch what I said before, I think your 30 mile radius just expanded to about 50".

"Argh! and to think I came all this way to visit an ungrateful brat like you!" Naruto snarled

"Who are you calling a brat you dobe?"

"Teme!"

"Usuratonkachi!"

Their argument was interrupted as Sakura bundled into the room carrying a stack of boxes. "Are you two fighting again?" she exclaimed in annoyance. "I know it's a friendly rivalry but you've been dragging it on for years now, don't you think it's about time the both of you grew up?"

Naruto and Sasuke's murderous glares switched from each other to their unfortunate new victim. But Sakura hadn't become the tough kunoichi she was without developing a bit of backbone. She matched them glare for glare, not giving an inch...until she caught sight of the nasty swelling on Naruto's forehead. She immediately switch to medic-nin mode. "Naruto! What have you done now?" She grabbed Naruto's head to examine the bruise with gentle fingers. "Wait, just let me grab my medic kit" she said as she quickly ran out of the room.

Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other in confusion.

"Hn"

"Women" said Naruto, shaking his head in puzzlement. A few seconds later Sakura ran back into the room, medicine kit in hand. "Ok, hold still" she grabbed a roll of bandages. "How did you get this bruise, anyway?" she asked, wrapping the bandage around his head. "You haven't even been on any missions lately."

"Uh, well...you see" Naruto began, struggling to come up with a plausible explanation that wouldn't make him sound like an idiot, or make Sakura mad.

But Sasuke beat him to it. "The idiot made a racket in the hospital and got hit by Tsunade."

"Argh! Do you have to be so annoying!" shouted Naruto.

"Didn't you hear the noise, Sakura?"

"Oi! just shut up!"

"Really, you should have heard it from where you were. He made enough noise for everyone in the building to hear" Sasuke continued, a slight smirk on his face.

"Look you little invalid, don't think you being bed-ridden is gonna stop me from punching you into next week!"

"Me being bed-ridden has no effect on the ease with which I can repel your pathetic attacks"

"You can only use one arm!"

"One arm is all I need"

"Well why don't you stop talking about it and show me you arrogant little prat!" shouted Naruto as he started to take a fighting stance.

Naruto was stopped mid-attack by Sakura's furious shout.

"Teme!" shrieked Sakura "no fighting in the hospital you idiot! And especially not with still-recovering patients." Sakura began cracking her knuckles menacingly. "I won't go easy on you if you do..."

Naruto blanched at her sudden intimidating appearance

"s-sure Sakura" stuttered Naruto. "Whatever you say..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I was in the other building collecting these boxes. That's why I didn't hear Naruto" said Sakura "Which reminds me, I still have to deliver these to Tsunade's office." She picked up the boxes and left just as Sai was entering.

"Hey Sai" greeted Naruto, glumly

"Hello Naruto, Sasuke" Sai replied

Sasuke sighed to himself. Would he ever be able to finish his book?

"How've things been?" Naruto asked Sai

"Good. And you guys? Sasuke, those wounds look painful. Did your last mission give you particular trouble?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth in annoyance. It was almost as if Sai was implying he was incompetent. Or was he just imagining the challenge hidden in Sai's tone?

"Yea Sasuke." Naruto chimed in "I still haven't found out how you got those wounds"

"Nothing major" Sasuke replied "Just a surprise attack I wasn't completely prepared for"

"Ah, but the life of a shinobi is full of surprises, isn't it?" Sai responded gracefully.

Again with that hidden tone. Was Sai insinuating that as a shinobi he should have been better prepared for unexpected sneak attacks?

It seemed that ever since his return to the Hidden Leaf Village Sai had been challenging him in one way or another. Never directly, so it wasn't like Sasuke could confront him about it, but in lots of little ways. It was almost as if he felt bitter about losing his position in the squad of team 7, and wished to prove Sasuke's unsuitability for that role. Or perhaps it was a lingering dislike born of Sasuke's mistreatment of him during their first meeting in Orochimaru's hideout, many years before. Either way, with Sai, it was hard to tell. And for the usually so emotionally detached shinobi, it was a strange phenomenon; though it seemed that neither Sakura nor Naruto had picked up on Sai's strange behaviour.

"Well, you'll just have to hurry up and get better so I can train against you again." stated Naruto enthusiastically. "I've been looking for a greater challenge in my opponents."

Sasuke smirked "and I'm the only one who can give you that challenge?"

"Well, more so than a few others I train with" replied Naruto then grinned apologetically when Sai raised his eyebrows. "Well, except for you, of course, Sai".

"No, it's fine" Sai responded. "I understand that our fights can't quite match up to the level of intensity that you and Sasuke's fights tend towards."

Naruto's grin was sheepish. "Well, you have a point there"

Sasuke was getting uncomfortable by the turn the conversation was taking. He never was much good at expressing or accepting strong feelings; or 'bonds' as Naruto liked to call it. Even simple friendship was often hard for him to accept.

Yet somehow he'd never been able to push Naruto away completely. No matter how many times he rejected and put-down the dobe, even going so far as deserting the village entirely, Naruto always managed to squeeze himself back into his life, and to somehow (once again) position himself at the centre of it. In the end, Naruto's unceasing determination to preserve their bond had won out. Sasuke returned to the village, and after a few months they were once again inseparable.

Sasuke winced in pain as Naruto slapped him on the back "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll be out of here in no time! Stubborn bastard that you are, you won't let them keep you here for long".

...Sometimes Sasuke wondered about the decision he made to come back.

Glaring angrily at Naruto, he almost missed the flash of emotion in Sai's eyes. Sasuke's eyes whipped around to focus on Sai's expression, but it had already returned to its usual fake smile. What was it he had seen? Anger, jealousy, envy? or simply a trick of the light... Whatever it was it made Sasuke uneasy; perhaps Sai wasn't as emotionless as he let on.

Sasuke came out of his deep thoughts to the realisation that Naruto was chattering incessantly once again, and probably had been for the past 5 minutes. "So what do you think, Sasuke? Reckon we should give it a shot?" Sasuke's mind scrambled frantically to remember what Naruto had just been going on about. Well, if nothing else, he could make his response intelligent and somewhat vague enough not to be caught out. "Uh...what?"

Right, so much for that plan. Nice one Sasuke. You've been spending way too much time with the dobe.

"You Baka!" Naruto said angrily "Have you been listening to a single word I've said?" Well, the response to this one was relatively easy.

"No" Sasuke said with a mocking smile.

"Arrrgh! What? Am I not worth your time?"

"Something like that"

Naruto glowered at him angrily, but before they could exchange another set of nasty insults Sai intercepted.

"Hey guys, actually, I came here for more than one reason."

Naruto and Sasuke's attention were diverted to him

"Oh really? And what might that be?" asked Sasuke

Sai whipped out a small, squarish device and began to fiddle with it carefully

"Whatchya got there?" asked Naruto

"It's a camera you dobe" Sasuke said in a tone that implied it should have been obvious

"Teme! Well it's nothing like any camera I've ever seen" Naruto said in obvious annoyance

"I found it in Sakura's attic when I was helping her out with spring cleaning" replied Sai matter-of-factly. "I've never had one before, so she said I could keep it".

"Well are you sure it even works?" asked Naruto doubtfully "It looks a little 'past its expiry date' if you know what I mean"

"Well, see that's it. I was hoping to test it out today. Only problem is, I'm not quite sure how it works."

Naruto looked at him in disbelief. "Uhh, well. It's not that old. It looks like it'd work like any other normal camera would. You know, press the button on top and 'flash' you have your photo"

Sai stared intently at the camera in his hands, then, slowly, raised it up and pressed the button on top.

"Nothing happened" Sai said.

Naruto walked up to Sai and picked up the camera, staring at it in confusion. "Well, uh, something should have. Did you put in the batteries?"

Sai looked at Naruto in bewilderment before his face lit up in understanding "oh, right, batteries. Of course" and with that he reached into his pocket and drew out 2 regular-sized batteries. "Sakura took me out to buy some afterwards. I suppose I should have connected it to the camera"

Naruto looked at Sai strangely. "Sai, have you never used a camera before?"

Sai stared back at Naruto with a blank expression. "Well, in Root we were told that we had no need for them. 'Inspiring strong emotions and feelings such as nostalgia', that sort of thing. So I never really got to use one"

Naruto's expression changed to one of sympathy and understanding "Oh, well that makes sense." His expression then switched to one of determination "Well, we'll just have to teach you how to use one, won't we?"

"What do you mean _we._" Grumbled Sasuke in annoyance. He'd been watching the exchange the entire time, and for some reason was discovering that he didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Aren't you gonna help me show Sai how to use this?"

"I don't recall agreeing to do anything like that"

"Don't be such a grouch! It won't cost you anything"

Sasuke's response was to stare sullenly out the window. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't worry Sai, I'll help you figure this out" he said with a grin. Sai responded with his characteristic smile, only this time it was genuine. "Thank you Naruto"

A few minutes later Naruto was growling in absolute annoyance. "Arrgh! WHY isn't it working? It shouldn't be this difficult. It's just a bloody camera for Kami-sama's sake!"

"Maybe there's something we're missing; something obvious yet simple enough to carelessly overlook" responded Sai in his usual eloquent manner

"What the hell could we've overlooked?!" shouted Naruto angrily.

Sasuke gazed at the two in mild amusement. "What's so funny idiot?" barked Naruto irritably.

"Well" responded Sasuke "It's really quite obvious actually"

Naruto growled loud enough to send one of the hospital staff running again. The door slammed open. This time it was Sakura. "No wonder Tsunade hit you so hard! You moron! Quit waking up the other patients!"

The sight of Sakura's angry countenance was enough to cool Naruto off some. "Heh, sorry Sakura" Naruto replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "It's just Sasuke was being a teme and Sai and I are having trouble figuring out how to work this camera"

Sakura gazed at them bemusedly. "Have you tried putting film in it?" she said in obvious amusement. Naruto and Sai looked at each other, then back at Sakura. "DAMMIT!" Naruto shouted exasperatedly as he slapped his forehead. "What's film?" asked Sai as Sakura slammed her fist on Naruto's head. "Shut up you BAKA!" shrieked Sakura in frustration.

Sasuke grumbled from his bed. "Why are you guys being so noisy?"

"Oh. Sorry Sasuke." replied Sakura

She turned her attention back to the pair in front of her. "Lucky for you it just so happens that I bought some film for the camera this morning. I was planning on giving it to you later, Sai, but since you seem determined to use the camera now..." she fished through her pockets and drew out a small, silver tube. "Here it is. Try putting that in" she said.

"Ok" said Sai as he took the tube, and proceeded to stare at it and the camera inquisitively.

"Give it to me" Sakura said with a sigh. She took the camera and film and inserted the film expertly. "There, now it should work" she said with satisfaction, and handed the camera back to Sai.

"What should I take a photo of first?" asked Sai (was that a hint of excitement in his tone?).

"How about all of us?" Sakura said with a smile. "It'll be a nice memory to look back on"

"Well I'm not getting off this bed" Sasuke said grumpily "So you can take the photo without me"

Naruto's wicked grin caused Sasuke to shift uncomfortably. "What, dobe?" he asked in annoyance.

"Don't think you're getting out of it that easily!" Naruto exclaimed pitilessly as he jumped onto Sasuke's bed. "You can take the photo here, Sai!" Naruto shouted.

"Great idea Naruto" Sakura said with a smile as she placed herself on the right side of the bed. Sai stepped in front of the bed and positioned the camera, snapping a shot before Sasuke could muster the strength to shove Naruto off his bed.

**Author's note:** Please Review This is my first ever fanfiction attempt and I'd really appreciate some feedback on what people thought. I prefer honesty, but please be courteous about it, and bear in mind that this is my first ever story I've written for Naruto, or any other fiction for that matter.

Also, I thought it would be interesting to share that I got the idea for writing this story from a fanart I came across on Deviantart. Here's the link for it: art/if-only-160254955?q=gallery%3Aannria2002%2F24883596&qo=138

It shows the 'photo' Sai ended up taking :D I felt like the art had a story behind it that needed to be told. (P.S ignore the fact that the Naruto in that photo seems to be holding crutches. I didn't notice that till after I wrote the story, so I only ended up explaining why his head was bandaged :P)


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke gazed ahead of him at team 7's deserted training field. The now-long grass waved idly about as the sun set on the horizon. A beautiful sight, Sasuke thought, though he would rather pull out his own teeth than admit such sensitivity to any of his teammates. His gaze remained customarily blank and emotionless, but any person who knew the boy well might've spotted the slight softening of his expression, and almost miniscule thawing of his usually ice-cold eyes, as he drank in the glorious sight of the setting sun on the horizon.

"Yo, Teme"

Sasuke's head whipped around in surprise to lock on the blond shinobi leaning against a tree on the edge of the clearing.

"What, dobe?"

Naruto gazed at him consideringly, then out to the flame-coloured horizon, his gaze also softening, though to a much greater extent than the Uchiha's. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto obviously didn't have any hang-ups about showing his emotions.

"No matter how many times you see it, it still manages to amaze." The blond said in an almost awe-struck tone. "I guess they don't call it Fire country for nothing." And with that Naruto's expression became somewhat teasing. Yet the glow of emotion in his eyes remained.

Sasuke resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably. He wasn't used to seeing this side of the dobe.

Sure, he wasn't blind; he knew that Naruto wasn't the same old brat he'd fought with at the academy (and for quite a few years after, matter of fact). He'd seen much evidence that the blonde had matured, in more ways than one. But sometimes it was easy to forget, with the dobe's usual obnoxious attitude and loud, spitfire demeanour. Sometimes Sasuke wondered if the blond kept up his obnoxious attitude purely because he knew it annoyed Sasuke to no end. For if there was one thing Naruto lived for (other than ramen and becoming Hokage), Sasuke knew, it was riling him up. It seemed Naruto had always gone to any means to try and invoke an emotional response out of him. This became much harder a task after Sasuke had returned to the village, his emotionless mask had come down stronger than ever after his experiences in the sound village and eventual confrontation of Itachi. But still, the determined blond was one of the few, if only, people who could force Sasuke to come out of his dark, isolated shell, even if it was usually only in the form of anger and reflexive violence. Naruto had claimed once that Sasuke was 'still a work in progress', but that 'the removal of the metre-long stick wedged up Sasuke's ass was one project that only He, Naruto Uzumaki, could oversee.' That conversation had ended quickly, with Sasuke landing a flying kick in said Uzumaki's face, causing a long, violent sparring session to ensue.


End file.
